Abstract

The paper contrasts two readings of Cambodian politics and society, labelled by the author `Cambodge' and `Kampuchea'. The `Cambodge' reading was invented by the French in the colonial era (1863-1954). It blended the grandeur of Cambodia's past, symbolized by the Angkor ruins, with an assessment of the Cambodian people as insouciant and needful of protection. This reading persisted in the so-called `Sihanouk years' (1955-70). The `Kampuchea' reading was imposed by the Cambodian Communists (`Khmer Rouge') when they seized power in 1975. It emphasized the empowerment of the poor, a conflict model of society, the predominance of politics, and a Marxist-Leninist, linear view of history. Both readings were `top-down' and now (1997) that they have been discredited (although some of their ingredients persist) a comparison between them may be of historical interest